Rand Paul presses Senate on border security

Sen. Rand Paul said Wednesday that — like many Republicans — he’s waiting to see how the Senate immigration bill is changed to address border security.

“A real solution must ensure that our borders are secure. I’m in favor of immigration reform, but the bill’s just not there yet in the Senate,” Paul said at a forum Wednesday organized by the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership.

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“I’m sort of in between, I think, of where the Senate and the House is,” the Kentucky Republican said. “But not yet ready to vote for the Senate bill unless they’re willing to listen to people who have been saying let’s make the border secure.”

Paul plans to introduce an amendment that would require Congress to vote each year for five years on whether the border is secure based on specific criteria. Processing undocumented immigrants would be contingent on those votes. It also calls for the Congress instead of the Department of Homeland Security to write a plan for border security.

“I’m all for immigration reform. But I don’t want to vote ‘yes’ and then find out in 10 years that everybody is pointing a finger at me saying, ‘There’s 10 million more people here why did you vote for that crummy bill?’,” Paul told reporters after his speech.

Paul, who told the story of his family’s immigrant roots in his speech, also expressed concern about the caps on agricultural workers, the proposed pathway to citizenship and the e-verify system.

“We ought to have no new pathway,” he said. “Many conservatives say if someone is in Mexico City and they’ve been waiting for years, it’s unfair for someone who is here illegally to have a different pathway.”

Paul repeatedly said the Gang of Eight should reach out to more senators.

“My suggestion to those in the Senate who are in charge of the bill is come to people like me who want to vote for it but aren’t quite there yet and say what would it take to bring you along,” Paul said. “They did this with Senator [Orrin] Hatch and it made the bill a lot better. He expanded the visas for allowing skilled workers, which is a great idea.”

A spokesman for Sen. Marco Rubio’s office said his office has been in conversations with Paul’s office.